TEXAS  — A tweet by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, this past weekend was criticized as insensitive as coronavirus worsens across the nation heading into the holidays. The virus has hit the El Paso region particularly hard.

The tweet, which included a meme, shows the Lone Star State symbol but the gun is replaced with a turkey. Accompanying text reads “COME AND TAKE IT.”

The tweet has been interpreted as a signal from the senator that he resists efforts to limit Thanksgiving gatherings in order to slow the spread of the virus.

The tweet didn’t go over well in El Paso, where the National Guard was recently dispatched in order to aid morgues with the handling of the virus dead.

One respondent to Cruz’s tweet wrote, in part, “The Texas National Guard was called in this week because there aren’t enough workers to move the bodies.”

Cruz’s tweet has its share of supporters as well, with another respondent writing, “Thank You Ted for all the great things you have done for the Great state of Texas!!!!”

Along with the Thanksgiving tweet, a video from over the summer in which Cruz predicts the coronavirus will essentially disappear shortly after Election Day has resurfaced on social media. Cruz’s implication appears to be that the effects of the virus were being overstated in order to undermine President Donald Trump.